Another Dark night
by Riharu
Summary: After the series, animeverse. Daisuke's son inherits Dark and his own story unfolds. Chapter 3 has been edited a bit with consideration to realism. Constructive criticism is appreciated!
1. Prologue

Another Dark night.

Dry lightening clashed, threatening, but without real force as that fated silhouette once again flew across the night sky, then suddenly was gone.

Spotlights searched the sky, piercing the empty blackness with their bright beams; nothing could be found.

A solitary cry is heard, distracting the silent frantic atmosphere outside. All look to the source, but too little too late; the Phantom Thief takes flight, leaving the crowd in a stunned awe, too startled to realize they had lost another battle.

Disclaimer: Tis not mine! this will get pretty deep eventually but for now I'll just be adding these first chapters that I wrote two years ago. Enjoy!


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!! well, from DNAngel. All new characters here are mine. )

"Niwa-kun! Over here!" A girl with long dark hair and bright green eyes was sitting there on a bench, waving to a red-haired boy, who had dark highlights and intriguing golden eyes that almost didn't match his face. His hair was also a bit poofy, but despite his somewhat odd appearance he wore a kind and innocent expression. He ran over to the girl.

"Oh, hi Saehara-san!" he looked closer and saw she was holding something, but couldn't make out what it was. "Whatcha got there?" he asked, with his sweet tone of voice, blushing slightly at the sight of the pretty girl.

Saehara blushed. "This? Oh, it's nothing." She tried to hide it, but at that moment another girl on a bike rode up and, losing control of the bike, crashed into the bench. The paper Saehara had been holding slipped from her hand, and taking the opportunity, the boy grabbed and read it.

* * *

Koshi Niwa sighed as he walked home. _Why me? _he thought. He had just been ready to confess everything to his long-time crush, Haruko Saehara, but everything just came crashing down when he saw that letter-a love letter addressed Ryu. _That stupid- _&#. Koshi sighed. Why _me? She has to go and fall in love with the "hot transfer student."_ ...

Koshi arrived home, but feeling depressed as he was, decided to go in the back way so his parents wouldn't know he was there yet. He made sure no one was watching, flipped a lever opening the passage way he had discovered years ago, and climbed up to his room.

To his suprise, his parents were waiting for him in his room, armed with party poppers and hugs.

"Oh, Dai, you were right! He did it!" exclaimed his pink-haired mom as she squeezed Koshi to death.

"I told you there was nothing to worry about, Riku! So, how were those traps? Pretty ingenious, eh? You sensed them and came upstairs through there, right? Attaboy!" Daisuke gave his son a pat on the back and laughed jovially.

"Ummm... I didn't- exactly... ummmm..." Koshi blushed under the attention. He hadn't even noticed anything out of place at the door.

"All right now, I think he's had a hard day, let's let him be for a while," said his mom, noticing Koshi's exhaustion. Soon Koshi was alone in his room, and sighed.

_Today just sucks, _he thought as he lay down on his bed. He sighed again, and looked over at his desk, where his sketchbook lay. He got up and flipped through it reminiscing the memories connected with the sketches, and smiled. Then he got to the latest used page, and paused. He trembled, and tears started to fall as Haruko's bright and happy face looked up at him. Koshi had spent weeks on it trying to get it just right, the inspiration of his heart, only to have it all crash down on him as useless.

Suddenly, a sharp burning sensation engulfed his entire body, piercing his heart with an unfamiliar pain.

Gasping, he collapsed to the floor and lay there for a couple minutes until it had subsided.

Once Koshi gathered his strength again, he stood up and glanced into his reflection in the glass of his window for the greatest shock of his life.

* * *

"So you're telling me that the Phantom Thief Dark Mousy is inside of me?!"

"Yup, and he's a pain in the neck if you ask me. A real pervert, too," replied Daisuke, looking over at Dark's figure, standing less erect and cool than usual. You can guess what happened- poor Koshi.

"And- so let me get this straight- I have to go to the art museum- and steal the "Moonlit Beauty" ?! Are you for real?!"

Daisuke sighed and put a hand on Koshi's shoulder. "I'm sorry, son, but that's just how it is. And it's the only way. You want to change back, right?"

"Well, yeah... well actually, no. No I think going to school and looking like a thief-person and getting myself arrested would be just great," Koshi said sarcastically.

Daisuke smiled at Koshi understandingly. Suddenly, though, the moment was interrupted by a hyper-active Emiko, who still looked quite young. her new motto seemed to be, "looks can be deceiving!"

"Oh honey, you look great!!" said Emiko, as Koshi found himself being hugged to death for the second time that day.

"Obaa-san? Are you okay?" asked Koshi, wincing from getting squashed.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" Emiko squeezes Koshi tighter.

"Emiko-san, you're hurting him!!" Koshi's mom intervened and saved Koshi/Dark from suffocating. "Are you okay?" she asked Koshi, then turned to Emiko and said "You're always being too rough on him!!"

Fearing another argument on that note, Daisuke tried to intervene. "Riku, come on, it's-"

Riku ignored him and started ranting. "I know having Dark around means a lot to you, but honestly! It's always 'Dark this' or 'Dark that!' Don't you care about your son, or grandson!? Sometimes, I'm not so sure of that! It's not like Dark's that great anyways! He's just a stupid perverted THIEF, for goodness sake!"

Koshi heard a voice somewhere inside him. _**Ouch, that really hurts! I'm quite offended!"**_ He looked around and couldn't find the source, and so chose to ignore it for the time being.

Emiko got a startled look on her face, then looked down so that nobody could see her eyes. A stifled sob is heard, and a soft "I-I'm sorry-," before Emiko runs out of the room bawling.

Daisuke glanced worriedly at the door Emiko ran through, then turned on Riku. "Why'd you have to say that! She does care- she really cares. If she didn't care she wouldn't be the same- and she's only obsessed with Dark because she still feels guilty. You don't have to make her feel worse about it!" As soon as he said it, though, he regretted it; he saw tears welling up in Riku's eyes. He silently cursed himself for being so terse with his wife, and then walked out to help Emiko.

Riku stood there, silently crying. "I'm sorry," she whispered quietly, and turned and ran out the front door, leaving a confused Koshi alone in the room.

Koshi blinked. "Umm... so, what now?" he asked the air, definitely not expecting an answer to come from that voice from earlier somewhere inside him.

"_**We fly." **_


	3. Chapter 2

A/n: hello anyone who reads this! I'm going to try to get the next couple chapters up quick, but I'm a busy high school student with shoddy typing skills (plus editing as I'm typing... goodness I wasn't a very good writer 2 years ago!) and yeah. So reviews are appreciated very much and also self-esteem boosters cause it's always nice to see that someone cares. ;)

anyways, I don't own DNAngel or it's ideas, but Koshi and others in his generation of this story are mine. Thanks!

btw, if you didn't already gather this, _**bold italics is Dark **__and normal italics is Koshi thinking._

* * *

The next morning, Koshi went to school feeling a bit disturbed. On top of domestic distress (his mom still wasn't back when he got home), everything that had happened with Dark before he got home rather freaked him out.

Flashback -

After the "moonlit beauty" had been stolen (rather easily and without a hitch, thanks to Dark) Dark started flying back in a direction that didn't quite lead back to Koshi's house.

At first, Koshi was too self-absorbed contemplating why he hadn't changed back yet since they had the painting already and so he didn't notice. When he finally caught on and asked Dark about it, all he said was "you'll see."

After a while, they silently landed on a balcony that opened up to an unlocked bedroom. Dark slipped through the sliding door and entered.

It wasn't until Dark was moving closer so he could see who was in the bed that Koshi realized Dark's intentions.

"No! Don't you dare, Dark! If you do that I'll NEVER forgive you!!" Koshi shouted mentally at Dark, but too late to stop Dark; he was already mouth-to-mouth with Haruko's older sister Michi, and Koshi felt his body changing back into himself.

Koshi sharply drew back, and saw Michi starting to wake up and ran out of the room and practically fell over the balcony.

End Flashback -

And so Koshi was somewhat disturbed. Michi was not Haruko's blood sister because Haruko was adopted, so Koshi didn't feel awkward about liking Haruko; but Michi was his cousin! His mother's sister, Risa had ended up marrying Takeshi Saehara, and after having two children decided to adopt Haruko for whatever reason. _Well, Dark was technically the one who kissed her, right? _he thought.

As soon as Koshi stepped into the classroom, a black-haired boy grabbed him by his tie and dragged him to the opposite corner of the room before spinning around, shoving a threatening index finger in Koshi's face. :What did you do to Haruko yesterday?!" the boy practically shouted at him, creating a bit of a scene.

"I-I don't know what you're-"

"DON'T give me that! You were talking to her yesterday afternoon and ever since she's been acting weird!"

Koshi thought back on that scene, which seemed like days ago and not just yesterday, and felt even worse. He looked off to the side at that thought, but the boy wouldn't let him off the hook.

"Just tell me what happened! I can't let anyone get away with hurting my sister!"

Yup. this guy was Michi's and Haruko's older brother- Hiroshi Saehara. He was a year older than Koshi and Haruko and so his classes were on a different floor, but he had come down to tell off anyone who may have lead his beloved little sister to be in such a poor mood to find that Koshi had been the last person seen with her the day before. It's amazing what kids'll say when bribed with stuff, like, for example, photographs. Of celebs, movie stars or the popular kid whom they have a crush on. All taken personally by Hiroshi "the greatest photographer Ever" Saehara- a self-given nickname for advertisement. (A/N: doesn't that _sound familiar? XP)_

"Honestly, I didn't do anything!!" _Except run off, dropping the rose I had hidden behind my back, _Koshi thought.

"Hmph, is that so?" Hiroshi asked. Koshi nodded eagerly, and he gave him one last suspicious look. "Alright, I'll let you off for now, but don't you do anything to Haruko, anything at all, 'cause I'll know if you do." And with that he walked out of the room, bumping into Haruko as she came in.

Haruko walked over to her desk and sat down, despite the fact they still had ten minutes before class started. Many of the other girls tried to talk to her, but instead of answering in her usual chipper voice, she just nodded and looked away.

It was unusually quiet though by no means silent, until the door opened, producing Ryu. He was that tall, dark and handsome kind of guy that all the girls just swooned over, but he was also very cold. His hair was a light blue, as were his eyes which were always hidden behind is glasses.

A complete dead silence fell over the room as he walked to his desk, which was right behind Koshi's, the last one in the last row. Then suddenly, as if a veil had been lifted, people started whispering and gradually crescendoed to the normal volume until the teacher entered the room and asked for attention.

Throughout class that day, Koshi would find himself absent-mindedly looking over at Haruko, and finding her often glancing back and blushing, but not at him; he glances always skipped over him to look back at Ryu. Whenever she looked back, Koshi always quickly turned his head down to his work or notes, ashamed at the possibility of being caught staring.

Finally, Koshi began to get annoyed with this game, and turned around to face Ryu, studying him to see just what it was attracted the girl's attention that he lacked. Up close, Koshi saw that Ryu was very lean, not exactly strong-built, and quite pale in complexion. Also, he was incredibly intelligent; he had already finished the ten-page assignment that Koshi was only on page two of, and was immersed in a rather thick volume entitled Criminal Psychology. Ryu looked up for a moment, returning Koshi's studious stare with a flash of annoyance, and in embarrassment Koshi quickly turned back around.

This process repeated randomly throughout the rest of the day: Koshi would stare "evilly" at Ryu- looking for some weakness- and would turn away or make some excuse when caught looking. But what was than always getting caught stari- ahem, _studying, _was Dark's laughter and sarcasm.

_**Haha! Keep staring and people are going to start thinking the wrong kind of thing!!**_

_What?! I'm only trying to find a weakness so I can plot his demise!_

_**Yeah, just keep telling yourself that. Honestly you're almost funnier than Daisuke!**_

_?? What do you-_ Before Koshi had the chance to ask Dark what he meant, the teacher called for attention and began to lecture on science, a topic Koshi especially enjoyed.

"All right now, class, today we will be learning about plants and the processes they use to make energy. Now, can anyone guess why plants need water?" As usual, nobody raises their hand; most because they don't have a clue or are not paying attention, and those who knew don't want to sound like know-it-alls.

Koshi was probably the most knowledgeable on this topic in the class- he grew a lot at home, including the rose he was going to give Haruko, and was even in the planting club in school. Their teacher knew this, so when there were no volunteers, she picked on Koshi. And thus he ended up teaching the class with directional pushes from the teacher.

"Well... water is one of the compounds necessary for plants to carry out photosynthesis, which makes energy for the plant."

"Good. And what are the other compounds needed to carry out photosynthesis?"

"In addition to water, sunlight and CO2 are needed. Sunlight is captured by pigments on the leaves- most plants are green because the green coloring allows them to absorb the most light available in a natural climate from the sun- and stoma on the undersides of leaves regulate gas exchange, allowing the intake of CO2 from the atmosphere, and then the release of oxygen, which is a byproduct of photosynthesis. Also, the ..." Koshi talks for a full three minutes before hearing snores around him, and realizes that the rest of the class, and even at one point the teacher, could care less about how different kinds of plants reproduce. (let's say he got off onto a tangent P) He finally dwindled down, and blushes in embarrassment, from empty stares coming from various clueless faces, and from the bored looks of those who had already read the textbook, and especially that avoiding glance of Haruko who was staring back at the dozing Ryu. He quietly sat back down, and it took the teacher a few seconds to realize he had stopped talking.

"Ah... very good Koshi. ...well. That's all about plants for today. Now please turn in your textbooks to page 203..." And so, class went on, Ryu still snoring, Koshi still blushing furiously, and Dark laughing at his host.

_**Nice one there! Didn't know you were so passionate about plants! Though, I had always thought of gardening as a bit of a girly hobby myself...**_

"Gah! Leave me ALONE!!" Koshi accidentally said, or rather yelled, aloud.

More stares, more blushes. The suddenness of the outburst even woke Ryu up.

"Uh... ummm... I mean... BATHROOM!!" Koshi sprints out of the room leaving many dazed people staring at the door.

* * *

In the empty bathroom, Koshi sighed and leaned over the sink, staring at his reflection in the mirror, smirking. "Great job, Koshi, make them all think that you're crazy. Maybe they'll put me in the asylum- I can claim I have multiple personality disorder."

"**Why would you do that?"** Dark asks in a mocking hurt tone. Koshi tries to glare at Dark, but only succeeded in staring down his own reflection. Koshi gave up and sighed, and started to walk out of the bathroom. "Well, I'm going to have to face them all eventually, no use putting it off. Maybe if I act normal, they'll forget anything even happened!" The thought relieved him, so much so that he didn't watch where he was going and rammed into a certain blue-haired boy, who happened to not be looking were _he_ was going. They both stumbled backwards, but while Koshi fell right over the other boy managed to keep his balance.

"Ryu?!" Koshi felt blood rushing up, in contempt for the boy who had stolen the eyes of Haruko, and also in envy that he could still retain composure in comparison to his own clumsiness. Koshi stood up and pretended to ignore Ryu but then realized that if class was still in session, the teacher wouldn't have let more than one student out at a time; so why was Ryu here? "H-hey, shouldn't you-"

Ryu silenced him with a movement of his hand. He quickly glanced around, making sure nobody was around, and then grabbed Koshi's wrist and dragged him to the nearest empty classroom.

After they were safely inside, Ryu stood there facing away from Koshi. There was an awkward silence.

Confused and feeling, well, awkward, Koshi decided to break the silence. "So-"

"You're name is Niwa, isn't it?" Ryu cut him off, talking accusingly.

"Uh.. umm, yeah, what about it?"

Suddenly, Ryu spun around and stabbed Koshi with a needle. Koshi felt a cold numbness run through his body; within seconds he couldn't speak much less move. All he could do was breathe and stare in horror as Ryu proceeded to drag him into a corner out of sight from the window on the door. Directly above him was a heavy knife hanging from a thin rope.

"I really don't like having to do this," Ryu whispered to Koshi, "but it's the only way. Dark has to die!"

Ryu climbed on top of a nearby desk, scissors in hand, and cut the rope down to a string. He jumped down and headed for the door. before leaving, he paused. "I'm sorry, Koshi Niwa." He made sure no one was coming, then scurried out.

_Omg omg_ was just about all Koshi could think. The strand holding the knife high above his chest became thinner- he knew that soon it would snap, and when it did it would probably kill him or at least hurt a whole lot, and there was no way anyone would be entering this room anytime soon. And as he watching the string thin he couldn't move a muscle; he could only think _Am I going to ... die?!_

* * *

Woo cliffhanger! The next chapter ought to fill in a lot. So stay tuned!! And please review!


	4. Chapter 3

Hello hello! I'd like to thank my reviewers, Twilight especially. I'm happy to know my work isn't for absolutely nothing. XD

anyways here is chapter three, I don't own D N Angel, and please R&R and enjoy!

Ryu sat in class daydreaming and looking out the window. He knew everything that was being taught so he figured he didn't need to pay attention to the ramblings of the freshman-level teacher; the truth was he really should be in college and not sitting here.

He glanced at the empty desk in front of him, and felt a jumble of mixed feelings; five minutes ago he had set his trap, and that was the only reason he was at this school. The rope would hold for at least another half hour, giving him a perfect alibi. Also, the room was a storage room, so no one would enter it until tomorrow morning.

Not that he expected it to work, though. The careful planning was just in case something went wrong. Earlier that day, Ryu had planted at least a dozen cameras in the room. They would not exactly work as hoped but they would give Ryu enough information that he needed.

No, all he wanted to do was to confirm that Koshi Niwa was indeed the infamous Dark Mousy. The paralytic poison he used could be overcome by a rush of adrenaline right before the knife's rope snapped, so if Koshi was not Dark he'd still be there at the end of the day but would still be in one piece. But if he was Dark, then Ryu was counting on him to be able to escape the room easily. If anything happened to the cameras and Koshi was gone when he returned to check on him, then he'd know that he was Dark for certain and would have to kill him.

Ryu Hikari has lived with his uncle Satoshi ever since his own parents died when he was 3. He looked up to him as if he was his real dad. They lived a busy life in the city, but it was always fun. But then the unexpected happened.

That was the night he met his "grandfather," Hiwatari.

It had been a normal evening; Satoshi was the head of the Osaka police force, and often he had Ryu join him at the station whenever work was slow. Satoshi liked having Ryu around- he reminded him do much of himself, and not just because of appearance- and he wanted to give him what he had never had- a caring family. Well, at least part of a family. Anyways, It was an average night at the station.

There was a knock at the door. It was rather late, and most of the officers were going home, and the night shift was trickling in. Wondering who it could be, Satoshi opened the door and instantly froze upon seeing a person he least wanted to ever see again.

"Hello, Satoshi. Surprised to see me?" he said, almost mockingly.

Satoshi quickly recovered his composure. "So you've come to see me after all this time," he replied, "_father."_

dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuunnn!! Okay on with it. XD

"So what do you want?!"

"Oh, nothing really. (just your SOUL!! mwahahaha jk) But someone else has some business with you." He held out an ancient looking piece of stone.

Satoshi gasped. "Is that-?!"

"A piece of the 'Black Wings'? Why yes it is."

All of a sudden Satoshi's breathing became frantic. Long before that night, Satoshi had occasional 'attacks,' as he called them. He would have to cut work for days at a time sometimes. This was a lot worse however. Ryu, who had been sitting in the corner of the room, stared in shock, then glared accusingly at the man Satoshi called 'father.' "What did you do to him?!" he demanded.

The man chuckled, and walked over to Ryu, leaving Satoshi bent in half as if fighting something within himself. "Oh, he'll be fine. Probably." Suddenly, Satoshi grew wings and screamed in agony. He struggled against himself, but then suddenly it looked as if he gave up. His hair became blond and long. His eyes were an uncanny gold, and even his outfit completely changed. Ryu stared in horror.

"If you want your uncle back, you'll have to kill Dark Mousy first."

Ryu was completely uncomprehending. "What the- who are you? What the hell is going on!?"

The blond angel smirked, and took a step towards Ryu. **"My name is Krad and don't go forgetting it.**" Suddenly, Krad clutched his head in his arms. "**Damn, not yet!! I can't keep control**-" Krad's from shrunk down and collapsed, once again as an unconscious Satoshi.

Satoshi's 'father' looked over scornfully at Satoshi's crumpled form. "Hmph. Well, he will always be suffering until that Dark is dead. Ya got that, kid? (referring, of course, to Ryu) I want you to kill Dark, or else your uncle here will always be in pain." After that sadistic comment, he left, leaving Ryu trying to wake up the only fatherly figure he'd ever had.

* * *

Koshi's eyes were glued to the knife above him. Each time the rope slipped a little, he would involuntarily cringe. Each passing minute was a torture.

But the knife was not his only problem- he had noticed some cameras hidden around the room; if he let Dark take control, the cameras would catch the transformation, convicting him of being a thief._ But if I don't do _anything...

_**If you don't do anything, that knife is going to go right through you! Come on, it isn't like some stupid cameras can stop the infamous phantom thief!**_

_No way! I'll find a way out of this- on my own!_

_**Good luck with that. As if I haven't **__**heard **__**that **__**before. Well, I'll be here if you need me.**_

_Hmph! Now if I can just move a little to the left..._ Koshi summoned all his strength to try to move, but to no avail. _Argh! That poison is strong- I can't move!_

Koshi heard Dark yawn from somewhere in his head. _**Want some help there?**_

Koshi mentally scowled. A_nd what exactly could you do, Mr. 'I'm-so-awesome?'_

_**Quite a bit more than you're doing, I'd say, Mr. 'I-can-do-it-on-my-own!!' **_Dark snickered.

_Aw, shut it! _Koshi thought irritably. The rope, which was now barely a strand, slackened again. _GACK!_

Dark cracked up laughing. _**You sure scare easily! Now let me take it from here. **_

_Wait-_ But the rope finally broke, and the knife came hurtling down.

* * *

Ryu sat in class trying to think of anything but his recent past. All he knew was that he had to get this 'Dark' character out of the way so that he could go on with his life. _But if I really.. kill... someone, will I be able to live with myself?_

Class was nearly over. Ryu figured that if anything had happened in that empty room, it would have happened by now.

_**Dark must die.**_

Startled, Ryu looked around. The teacher droned on, the students were still dazed, off in their dream world. No one else had heard it.

_Must have been my imagination, _Ryu thought, leaning back in his chair. But then he heard a chuckle. It started out low, before escalating into all-out laughter.

Again Ryu searched the area. The teacher lectured on, oblivious to the laughter. In fact, it seemed that nobody except him was even hearing it, despite it's volume.

_What the- why isn't anyone else responding?_

_**Only you can hear me, unless you let me out.**_

_What- who are you? Where are you?!  
_

_**I am inside you- in fact, you could say I am part of you. But don't worry. Just cooperate and you won't have to suffer.. too much.**_

_...I'm going insane... a voice inside my head just threatened me... Must be the stress._

_**Why do I always get that reaction? I start talking and it's all, "I'm going insane!" this or "get out of my head!" that! My goodness, it would be so much easier if you people just accepted me and bent to my will!**_

_Haven't you heard of 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?' Who the hell are you anyways?!_

_**This is Japan, not America. And I doubt anyone would believe that "a voice inside my head is forcing me to try to exterminate his ancient rival! Help!!"**_

_...What? Okay, hearing voices and making up wild stories about them. Sure, this school is boring, but my imagination is really starting to get out of hand._

_**I can prove to you that I'm real. You'd like to know you aren't crazy, am I right?**_

_Yeah... well..._

The bell rang, signifying that class was over and the students were finally free, and right at that moment Koshi Niwa walked back into the room as if nothing were wrong and got a long hard glare from the teacher who believed he had been skipping. Ryu pushed by him, avoiding eye contact on his way out.

Ryu went straight for the bathroom Koshi had been in earlier, and looked in the mirror to find that he indeed was not insane; though the look on the face that stared back at him seemed to say otherwise. For in the mirror was the face of the blond-haired 'angel,' Krad.

* * *

(back with Koshi...)

_I can't believe you Dark!! Now Ryu knows that I'm you or... whatever... however that works. Agh!! And he's got connections with the police!! He could arrest me now, couldn't he??_

_**Don't worry so much about it; he wouldn't arrest you, because he wants to kill you. Well, he wants to kill me. But you'd probably die too, unfortunately.**_

_What?! That's even worse!! oooh, this is the pits! _Koshi had been talking with Dark on his way home from school after being lectured by his teacher, congratulated by his friends and avoiding Ryu and any of the Saeharas. What a story he had to tell when he got home- "Guess what happened at school today! I almost got killed by one of my classmates, but Dark popped out at the last minute and got me out of that situation but now Ryu knows about Dark!!" Real smooth that would be.

_**Well now, you underestimate the infamous Dark Mousy! There's nothing to fear while I'm here!!**_

_...Except the constant possibility of death by some reckless thing you choose to do, and the constant irritation you cause me?_

_**Come on, you know you love the freedom of a care-free life! **_

_...not. _By this time Koshi had arrived home and instantly knew that something was wrong by the lack of activity inside. Koshi saw his dad (who works in a paint gallery and usually isn't home until at least 5) and asked him what was afoot.

"Riku... your mother never came home ..." Koshi could see the hurt and regret in his father's eyes. "Why... what could have happened...?" He was helpless with disbelief and shame.

Koshi didn't know what to say. His mother had always been prone to intense mood swings, and sometimes would act like a doting mother and at other times would be very cold and distant. Half the time it seemed like she didn't care to be in the family, and the other half seemed fake, like she was trying to compensate. Koshi put a hesitant hand on his father's shoulder to try to comfort him. "I'm sorry... it's my fault isn't it?"

Daisuke looked at his son, then looked down. "No, it's not... it's nobody's fault. Perhaps I should be going after her... but I have nowhere to look for her. I just... don't know what to do. I'm sorry if that makes me a bad father."

Koshi looked at his dad, confused as to why he wasn't doing anything about it. It was his mom, after all; how could he just sit there! "I'll go look for her. Maybe I can convince her to come back!"

Daisuke studied his son's face, and saw in it a reflection of himself, determined to do what he needed for someone he loved, and realized how foolish he was being by sitting around moping. He smiled, and his refound strength returned to his eyes. "You can come with me, but just try to keep up. I promise to get you're mom back." Daisuke went inside and found wiz (A/N OMG how could I have forgotten wiz in this thus far!!) and the two set off in search of Riku.

* * *

Oh GOD that last part I HATE!! It's so random... and melodramatic. And I really don't like Riku that much anyways. But, alas. It's the readers that matter! I would like feedback because now I'm on to uncharted territory (aka this is where I left off two years ago because I got bored) EDIT: okay I rewrote some of it, hopefully it's a bit better. not quite as completely off the wall.


End file.
